Tag: body-of-christ

God’s Tool Kit

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (ESV)  Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

The first verse in this passage, verse 23, could be understood this way: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom [for God has given him that wisdom], Let not the mighty man boast in his might [For it is God who has made him mighty], let not the rich man boast in his riches [for it is God who has given him his riches].

Wise men, mighty men, and rich men all have places in God’s kingdom to do particular jobs.  God has made the wise men to counsel people, the mighty men to protect the flock, and the rich men to provide for His people.  We each have a job in God’s church, a job God has uniquely qualified us to do.

Let me look at some of the tools I have around my house and use them as metaphors to illustrate this.  Let’s look at the straight-slot screwdriver.  It has one specific use for which it was designed: to turn straight-slot screws, but we can use this tool for so many things: as a pry bar, to open paint cans, as a sort of chisel, many things.  But, it’s only designed for one purpose, and it only does that one purpose well.

We have screwdrivers in our church as well as pry bars, paint can openers (yes there are tools designed just for that purpose), and chisels.  A screwdriver can do the job of a chisel poorly, but it can get done.  Using the tool that is actually designed to open paint cans, pry things, and so on, makes the job much easier and creates a better result.  The problem is many times only the screwdriver will volunteer for a job, so the task gets done but not as well as if some tool actually designed to accomplish the task were used.

I’m a teacher.  We might look at me as a partly full computer thumb drive.  I have a lot of information to share if you can access it.  The other day, the fan belt on my truck started to squeal.  That almost always means the belt is stretched and needs to be tightened a little.  I didn’t run into my study and grab the thumb drive to fix that.  I grabbed my 14mm wrench to loosen the pulley and adjust it.

There is a parallel here to the church.  Some of us are more sensitive to the needs of others than we.  Some are better able to teach.  Some are better cooks.  Some spend hours in their prayer closets supporting those on mission fields.  We all have our jobs, and God has designed us to perform those jobs.

Sometimes the more obvious servants: ushers, pastors, teachers, helpers, cooks, etc., are seen as more “spiritual” because they are serving out in the open.  We don’t often see the gifts given to missions or the poor.  We don’t see the hospital visits, the hands held when a loved one is lost, the prayers that uplift the entire church.

Charles Spurgeon was asked after a Sunday service why he thought his ministry was so successful.  He took the person downstairs to his church’s basement and showed him the dozens of people who prayed throughout the service for God’s hand to work in the lives of those listening and through the words of Spurgeon.

Why is this important?

You and I often may feel like we aren’t doing all we can.  If we feel that way, we should be careful in what we choose to do.  We can take on the job to test and see if it is what God has called us to do, but if it becomes clear it is not, we are probably standing in the way of someone God has perfectly prepared for that job.  We are a screwdriver trying to open a paint can when God wants to use the paint can opener.

Whatever tool God had fashioned you into, you are perfect for the job. You might “hang on the wall” for a while like a wrench in my garage, but when the task arises, you are the perfect tool to get it done. While there are tools in the church that are not being used properly, there is no tool more important than another, so find your place if you haven’t already and get to work.

The Fruitful Body of Christ

1 Cor. 12:12-20 (ESV)  For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

Gal. 5:22-23 (ESV)  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

These passages of Scripture speak of the unity of the church, the body of Christ.  Together we show each other and the world Christ in a very physical sense.  Elsewhere in the passage, Paul gets into instruction about spiritual gifts and how they edify the church itself, but I’d like to talk about how the body of Christ is also displayed before the world.  There are traits, fruit, I see in the church which give us and the world a glimpse of the God we serve.

A lot of years ago, we belonged to a Southern Baptist church in California, and there was a share night, a sort of talent show.  Some members of the congregation sang songs, one gentleman whistled all four stanzas of Amazing Grace, some recited Scripture from memory, and I had written a pretty poorly constructed poem to express my relationship with God, His church, and me. 

I recited the poem at a men’s group this past week, and they thought it was significant enough to ask for written copies.  Being me, it occurred to me I could do this by sharing it here to see if it might help some of the readers of this blog better understand Christ and His church, and it would give a written record of the poem for those who asked.  Please remember this was written to be given to a group within a church sanctuary setting:

When I was a boy

I asked God to show Himself to me,

Not in a spiritual sense

Something tangible I could see.

He didn’t appear to me that night.

He wouldn’t show Himself.

So, just to show Him who’s the boss,

I put His book back on its shelf.

As the years went by,

His book came down.

Now I know Him as my Lord.

But He never forgot my prayer.

He remembered every word.

As I look around the room,

I see some very dear friends of mine

Who show me through their lives and loves

God’s qualities divine.

In some I see the joy of God:

His patience and His kindness.

While others share His love in Truth

To cure the World’s blindness.

With some, it’s His authority that comes bursting through.

With other, His sense of humor in the funny things they do.

So if you ever prayed a prayer like that

On some dark and lonely night,

Just look around.

He’s wall-to-wall.

Behold the body of Christ.

Why is this important?

Although the gifts of the Holy Spirit are most certainly awesome, wonderful, supernatural, and even necessary for the health of the church, the fruit that display God’s joy, love, and compassion come every day nearly unnoticed through the people who make up His body.  This fruit is important for the world to see. People can better discern Christ in us because He lives in us, lives through us, and exhibits His person by us.  It is through us they see the body of Christ.